Pat's Cross-Stitch Corner

It’s Spring Fever by Blackbird Designs

April 2, 2017 By patgeary

My favorite designers, Barb Adams and Alma Allen who are the Blackbird Design ladies have released a new series of Loose Feather designs. For the Birds! It’s Spring Fever is the first on the nine charts that will make up this series.

It’s Spring Fever chart by Blackbird Designs.

The cover model is stitched on 36ct PTP Wren but since I cannot stitch on anything that small, I chose 16ct Regency Aida by Picture This Plus. Each of the charts will be stitched on a different color fabric. Each of the designs measures 91 x 91 in stitch count, they finish approx 5 x 5 if you use the recommended fabric. Mine will be slightly larger. Celebrating our fine feathered friends, Spring Fever is stitched with a medley of taupes and soft dusty blues.

I started stitching It’s Spring Fever on March 13, 2017 and finished it on April 1, 2017. I stitched this in memory of my sweet husband who died on February 25, 2017 thus the letter J.

It’s Spring Fever

Keepsake Box & Pincushion

January 25, 2017 By patgeary

This lovely design, Keepsake Box & Pincushion, is another one from the Blackbird Design team. Dated 2008, it was a project from the Shepherd’s Bush Retreat. As with many of the BBD this one is also out of print.

The picture above shows the chart with the recommended threads on the right and the selection I have chosen to use from the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Primitive Floss Collection. I am stitching this on 28ct Cream Monaco rather than the called for linen.

Keepsake Box

Started stitching: July 17, 2016
Finished: July 25, 2016

The colors I selected to use are:

Purple Hollyhock
Parsley
Rose Plum
Antique Gold
Peach Dahlia (from the Picket Fence Collection)

Keepsake Pincushion

Started Stitching: July 26, 2016

I selected 28ct Cream Monaco to stitch the pincushion on. I also chose to use the recommended threads which are:

CC Cappuccino
CC Clay Pot
CC Cinnamon Toast
CC Yw Old Gold
CC Pea Pod

UPDATE: January 25, 2017

I sent these to off to Vonna Pfeiffer and her The Twisted Stitcher’s Finishing Service and received these pictures today. Aren’t they beautiful?

I used the Keepsake Box chart to stitch a special gift for two of my step daughters. For these, I chose to use 16ct Aida to stitch them.

The threads I used to stitch the boxes were from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.

Purple Hollyhock
Rose Plum
Peach Dahlia
Antique Gold
Parsley

And for the other one.

Concord Grape
Lavender
Rose Hollyhock
Catesby’s Trillium
Toffee
Parsley

Each design was mounted to the top of one of the RECESSED LID, 6″ ROUND NEEDLEWORK BOX by LeHay Shaker Boxes.

LeHay Shaker Box in Green

Keepsake Box Top in Mauve.

Boxes and stitched pieces before assembly.

Keepsake Box Top in Purple.

November 2018

I decided to stitch another one of these as a Christmas gift. This time I used 16ct Ariel by Picture This Plus since the box is blue. I used Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe threads (again) as they are my very favorite floss.

Delft Blue
Forever Blue
Sunflower
In My Garden

Keepsake Box with shades of blue

And this is the finished piece that was a gift to my granddaughter for Christmas.

Keepsake Box stitched in blue

Keepsake Box stitched in blue on LeHay’s Shaker Needlework Box.

Tis the Season Sewing Bag from Blackbird Designs

January 6, 2017 By patgeary

The last offering for the 2016 Ladies Prim Society is another gorgeous piece by Barb and Alma of Blackbird Designs. It is a lovely Christmas Design called Tis the Season Sewing Bag and pictured below.

Tis the Season from Ladies Prim Society and Blackbird Designs

The kit comes complete with 36ct linen for stitching the bag, and a piece for the lining as well as the threads and ribbon for finishing. Since I cannot see well enough to stitch on 36ct, I chose a piece of hand dyed Brown 16ct AIda. This design is a little different in that the front of the bag is stitched vertically and the back of the bag is stitched horizontally. I am also stitching with two strands of floss rather than the one strand that was recommended.

Tis the Season Sewing Bag – front in progress

Tis the Season Sewing Bag – front and back in progress

Tis the Season Sawing Bag from Ladies Prim Society by Blackbird Designs

Started: December 30, 2016
Finished Stitching: January 12, 2017

Tis the Season Sewing Bag front

Tis the Season Sewing Bag back

And the best thing about this one is I did the finishing all by myself!

Moon Garden by Blackbird Designs

December 24, 2016 By patgeary

Moon Garden is one of the early Blackbird Design charts I purchased soon after discovering these designers. While I sorta liked the colors and kitted it up, I could not really get started on it. Then Jane Douglas posted her stitched piece using totally different colors. I LOVED the look of it and decided to use at least some of her colors when stitching mine. Information on both color schemes can be found here.

Moon Garden by Blackbird Designs chart

Since there were no specialty stitches and only the date was over one, I selected 16ct Highland Aida by Picture This Plus as the fabric and threads from the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.

Moon Garden Fabric, threads and chart

Moon Garden Progress 12.21.2016

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Threads except where noted.

Black Watch Plaid
Iris Leaves
P27
Dried Peaches
Gentle Arts Pineapple Sherbet
Carrie’s Creation Soot

I used Iris Leaves for the alphabet with the exception of my initials, for which I used Black Watch Plaid. For the words Moon Garden, I will be using P27. The birds are stitched with Soot and P27 so they look more like Red Winged Blackbirds. The bird’s eyes were stitched with VM Sunflowers.

Started stitching December 18, 2016
Finished stitching: December 28, 2016

Moon Garden Finished

Moon Garden Bottom

Moon Garden Top

UPDATE DECEMBER 2017: Now that my sister has received her package and unwrapped it, I can show the finished piece. I decided to finish this one as a bellpull.

Moon Garden finished as a bellpull

Join The Floss Club!! And enter a GREAT give-away!!

November 8, 2016 By patgeary

If you are like me and enjoy stitching with (and collecting) Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss, the Floss Fairy (Nancy Turner) has started a Floss Club. You can join the Floss Club in two ways:

You can buy 6 skeins a month, 20 yards each and $2.45 each of the Ultimate Collection (*****you will be buying 5 and get one free!) $12.25 plus $2.60 postage. (states only)
Or you can buy 12 skeins in a gift box $26.95 (***** you will be buying 11 and get one free!) plus postage of $2.60.
OR you can receive special limited editions I will dye each month! Same deal…buy 6 and get one free or buy 12 gift boxed and get one free! $2.45 each. I will try to do theme colors if a holiday falls in that month.

You can buy one each month, as often as you would like or sign up for auto, or you can pay for the whole year and get one month free!!!! Email Nancy with your orders. nbelgian@aol.com

Now for the giveaway!! Nancy will give one free month to a lucky winner. 12 skeins boxed! The drawing for the winner will be on December 17th as this will be part of the 12 Days of Christmas.

Head on over to Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe to read all of the details and enter for a chance to win. And you can see the beautiful colors in the ultimate collection pictured below.

Climbing the Trellis: Garden Club Series #7

October 22, 2016 By patgeary

Welcome to our Garden Club! You’re going to love belonging to our little sewing circle….. This month we are delighted to see our pomegranate an our lily popping up out of the ground. We planted them at the bottom of our trellis and are waiting for them to bloom.

This is #7 in a 12 part series by the Blackbird Design Ladies. I am not stitching them in any particular order and will be finishing them as small pillows or pin cushions. Rather than stitch these two as one picture, I am doing them separately.

I’m stitching Climbing the Trellis on 16ct Milk Chocolate Aida from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie with the recommended threads. Started stitching on October 18, 2016,

Finished stitching October 24, 2016.

Climbing the Trellis by Blackbird Designs

November 1, 2021

Because I had not stitched these two side by side, I wondered how I could finish them, sew them together or finish separately. I had two pieces of Blackbird Designs fabric, Rhubarb and Ginger that matched the colors of each one so decided to use them for these two. Some lacey trim and glass beads and I am happy with them. They have been sitting in the drawer for 5 years so now they can join the dough bowl with some others I am working on. The backing fabric is the same as I used on the sides.

How Does the Lily Grow–Garden Club Series #10

October 22, 2016 By patgeary

Welcome to our Garden Club! One of the most pleasant places to be is in the garden, either weeding or watering. We enjoy seeing the new growth appear on the plants, and watching our flowers bloom is an added treat.

This is #10 in a 12 part series by the Blackbird Design Ladies. I am not stitching them in any particular order and will be finishing them as small pillows or pin cushions.

I’m stitching How Does the Lily Grow on 16ct Milk Chocolate Aida from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie with the recommended threads. Started stitching on September 6, 2016 and finished on September 10, 2016.

We have a Stitch-A-Long Facebook group for the BBD Garden Series if you are interested in joining us.

And here it is finished into a small pincushion/pillow with chenille trim.

How Does the Lilly Grow ~ Garden Series #6.

Time to Stitch by Needle Work Press

October 19, 2016 By patgeary

I had seen the chart “Time to Stitch” by Needlework Press posted on a number of sites but somehow it never struck my fancy as something I would like to stitch for myself. The chart shows the piece finished into a Lone Elm Lane Shaker Box (6 or 8 inch) OR using the Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Alarm Clock Frame available at any number of stores.

BUT then I saw a finished piece posted on the Tomorrow’s Heirlooms Facebook group and that convinced me that I really wanted to stitch this one.

I selected a piece of 16ct Storm Aida from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie and Darkest Midnight Blue floss from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe with Tin Bucket by Gentle Arts. The clock faces used for finishing are also by Tim Holtz Idea-Ology and can be ordered online.

Started Stitching October 14, 2016 Finished October 19, 2016

The picture does not do the stitched piece justice as the fabric is actually a mottled smoky grey. Now to send it off to the finisher.

And the finished piece back from Vonna Pfeiffer and her The Twisted Stitcher’s Finishing Service.

Time to Stitch by Needlework Press.

Summer Shall Not Fade by Blackbird Designs

October 13, 2016 By patgeary

Summer Shall not Fade was part of a retreat project (Spring Fling) offered by the ladies at Dyeing to Stitch and Blackbird Designs. I was not able to attend the Retreat but was given the opportunity to stitch one of the charts by a stitching friend. Donna Rae Barrow in the Fans of Blackbird Designs Facebook Group posted a picture of the finished piece framed in a bird frame she found at Michael’s. There was a mad dash to find the frame and I was lucky enough to purchase one on sale for half price. The chart needs to be stitched on 16/32ct to fit in the frame. You could of course use 18/36ct if you wanted a bit more space around the edges. I chose to use 16ct Hand Dyed Aida. Not sure of the color right now but will add it when I find my notes.

Supplies for Summer Shall Not Fade

Back of stitched piece laced before framing.

Summer Shall Not Fade – Framed

Hedgerow Birds Project Bags by Blackbird Designs

October 3, 2016 By patgeary

I was given Hedgerow Birds as a gift from a stitching friend. I first went searching for the buttons it used and ordered them. While the chart recommends stitching this project on 20ct Straw linen by Weeks Dye Works, I selected 20ct Ivory Lugana which I ordered. The fabric reminds me of the 18ct Davos I used to stitch many of my Prairie Schooler charts on. I also decided to use some of the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe threads rather than what the chart recommended. I am getting a little more comfortable in making color changes.

The above picture shows the chart, fabric, buttons, and threads I selected. I started stitching this one on September 21, 2016. The colors I selected to use are:

VM Pink Roses instead of CC Jakey Brown
VM Faded Pink Lace instead of CC Sunkissed
VM Parsley instead of GA Apple Cider
VM Spring Green instead of GA Chamomile
VM Primitive Purple instead of GA Old Purple Paint
VM Purple Hollyhock instead of GA Old Red Paint
Carries Creations Soot for the birds and VM Olde Gold for the bird eye.
VM Rose Plum for part of the Alphabet

And a finish for the front.

On to stitching the back of the bag now.

Hedgerow Birds – Back

And the back is finished.

Hedgerow Birds – Back

Started stitching on Sept 21, 2016. Finished stitching October 14, 2016.

And here it is finally released from prison in January 2022 and finished as a ditty bag. I’ll add some dried flowers and hang it on the inside of the front door.